Williams representatives outline pipeline expansion project

DALLAS TWP. — Plans for a new pipeline to transport natural gas from the Marcellus Shale are underway, and on Wednesday, Dallas Township officials and residents got an idea of what to expect.

Transcontinental Pipeline Company LLC, a subsidiary of Williams Partners LP, is expanding its existing Transco interstate natural gas pipeline in a project called “Atlantic Sunrise.”

Its purpose is to create a line to deliver gas from wells in northeastern Pennsylvania to utilities and gas companies in the southern Eastern Seaboard, Williams Spokeswoman Cindy Ivey said. The Transco pipeline currently brings gas to the north from the Gulf Coast.

Ivey said the Transco pipeline, which provides 8 percent to 10 percent of the natural gas used in the U.S. per day, is at capacity, and Williams has seven or eight companies signed up to use the extension.

To add about 20 percent more capacity, a new pipeline will be constructed from natural gas wells in Susquehanna County, then will run parallel to the Transco pipeline to an existing compressor station in Columbia County before heading south. The new line will run through Dallas, Lehman, Lake, Ross and Fairmount townships in Luzerne County.

Williams is in the process of developing the pipeline route and notifying landowners, and has compiled a map showing the tentative route.

But Dallas Township resident Joan Byron, who owns a large tract of land between 42nd and Lake streets, says Williams should have let people know two years ago when the project was first being drawn up.

“I wish you would start at the first step,” she said. “Where did that map come from, and why weren’t we notified?”

Besides a “rinky-dink” one-time payment, Byron said she does not stand to gain financially from having the pipeline run through her property.

“I will not reap any financial benefits, I will live in fear,” she said.

Ivey said property owners would receive a one-time payment for easement rights. She said eminent domain would only be used as a last resort.

Williams does not plan to build a compressor station, which compresses the gas to fit into the pipeline, or a metering station, which measures the gas going into the pipeline, in Luzerne County.

The pipeline’s construction will be regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, with parts of it requiring permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Dallas Township solicitor Thomas Brennan asked whether Williams will have to follow the township’s ordinances for things like stormwater management. The project is exempt from local zoning requirements, but Ivey said the Williams will try to work with the municipalities and county.

Because there’s a federal agency involved, Ivey said the process would be lengthy, including filings with the regulatory commission, putting together environmental documents for the DEP, and having “open house” meetings for public input, like one held Tuesday at Lake-Lehman High School. If the project is approved, Williams plans to start work on the pipeline in June 2016 and hopes to have it in service around July 2017.

“We’re going to be listening for a pretty long time,” Ivey said.

But Byron, who attended Tuesday’s “open house,” wasn’t convinced.

“Every question I asked got answered with a question,” she said.

Byron said her land is used as a community park, hosting events including cross-country meets, soccer games, college biology classes, hiking and model airplane clubs.

Ivey said residents needed to tell Williams about things like that. She said there is some flexibility, and that there will be re-routing and tweaks made for things that can’t be seen from aerial maps and Google Earth.

“We can’t accommodate every request, but we do listen and we do try,” she said.

Anne Allen, who is handling the environmental and permitting aspects of the project for Williams, said she noted that Byron had wetlands on her property, and said Williams is looking at restoration, mitigation and avoidance of environmentally-sensitive areas.

“We really are trying to be honest, and this is the beginning of our process,” Allen said.

eskrapits@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2072

For information on the Transco expansion project, visit http://atlanticsunriseexpansion.com.

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